SandCastles
by Zofie C. Field
Summary: The dangers of falling asleep on the beach...


_Another Beckett-falls-asleep-at-the-beach story._

_Note: None of these characters are mine._

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><p><strong>SandCastles<strong>

Kate's eyes snapped open. She blinked, surprised to find darkness where there had been sunlight when she'd closed her eyes. It was then that she noticed the pinpricks of light in the darkness, and realized that her sunhat had fallen over her face while she was sleeping. Laughing a little at herself, she moved to adjust the hat, only to find herself completely immobilized. A brief jolt of panic shot through her as she struggled to move her arms.

"Ah, good! You're awake. For goodness sakes, Beckett, you sleep like the dead!"

The panic instantly vanished, to have its place filled by suspicion and dread. "Castle? What have you done?"

"Honestly, Detective. Have you no faith in me? What have I done…yeesh!" Kate heard him rustling around in the general area of her abdomen.

"Castle! Tell me what's going on. Now!"

"Really, this is all your fault, Beckett. You come to the beach with me, stretch out in the sun to read, and then fall asleep? You must have known the temptation that would present to me! How could I not act? Letting that opportunity slip by would have been practically irresponsible of me!"

(Please don't ask how Castle managed to convince her to come to the beach. She's still not sure herself. She opened her mouth to turn down his offer like she normally did, and instead of a "no", a "yes" came out.)

"Castle!" Beckett shouted, effectively ending his monologue. And then she heard the giggle. "Alexis!"

"I'm so sorry, Detective Beckett! I held him off for a while, but you know how persuasive he can be! He promised me ice cream!" Alexis said this all very fast. "And I want you to know, I had nothing to do with the bikini." Kate heard Alexis gasp and what sounded suspiciously like Castle's hand clamping over her mouth.

"What bikini?" Kate was shouting again, feeling a little panicked. She stopped herself, and assumed her I-am-a-cop-do-what-I-say voice. "Alexis. What bikini?" She heard Castle shush Alexis.

"Just some finishing touches, Beckett. Ah, yes, that should do it. Alexis, drum roll, please."

At this, Alexis did her best drumroll impression.

"Tada!" Castle whipped off Kate's hat and struck a Vanna White pose.

The reason for her immobility was immediately apparent. The Castles had diligently buried her from the neck down under what looked to be at least a foot of wet sand. Kate began to struggle again, trying to free herself from her sandy prison, but Rick quickly jumped to work filling in the few cracks she managed to make.

"Wait a moment, Detective. You haven't seen the best part." Kate ignored him and kept struggling. "Lie still! I won't let you free until you have adequately admired my handiwork."

Kate stopped struggling for a moment and glowered at him. Rick beamed back at her. "That's better. Alexis, would you do the honors?"

Kate looked over at Alexis, who pulled out her phone ("Smile, Detective Beckett!") and snapped a picture. Alexis handed the phone to Castle, who admired the picture for a moment before holding it up for Kate to see.

Squinting against the sun, Kate could barely see. Castle shielded her eyes with his hand, effectively reducing the glare so she could see the photo. The photo of her buried form and her (oh my god, she's not letting him leave this beach alive) sea shell bikini. Castle had decorated the sandy lump that hid her body with a rather skimpy bikini formed out of sea shells and sea weed. He had even given her a little indent for a belly button and what appeared to be a sea shell naval ring.

Mortified, Kate surged up and lunged at Castle. Had she not been weighed down with clingy wet sand, she might have caught him. However, by the time she freed herself of the sand, Castle and Alexis were running down the beach toward the ice cream truck, laughing. Alexis stopped for a moment and turned, shouting to Kate that they'd bring her some ice cream too.

Watching them run, the mortification slowly drained out of her. She bent down and retrieved the phone from where it lay in the sand. Looking at the picture again, she began to smile. The picture not only captured sandy Kate (smiling for Alexis's sake) and her shell bikini, but also the artist himself, grinning next to her, gesturing proudly towards his handiwork. Chuckling to herself, Kate deleted the picture, but not before sending a copy to her own phone. All of a sudden, her first beach day with the Castles wasn't something she was eager to forget.

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><p><em>Thanks for reading!<em>


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